The Unexpected Pop Of Things
by feathered moon wings
Summary: Theres a witness to Lucifers kidnaping and as a result a second victim of the Daniel Espinoza plots the escape of an unconscious Devil and himself, there comes the unexpected pop of things to fuck everything up."Fuck!" He was so like the bastard to sleep peacefully while Dan was losing his mind.He guessed he deserved this after so many bad things he'd done in life.
1. An Unruly Kidnapping

**PART ONE: An Unruly Kidnapping**

* * *

CHAPTER 1: SOMETHING AS EQUALY DRAMATIC

There was a sharp pain in the back of his head and a gentle rocking beneath his body as he lay against the hard metal surface.

Dan was instantly confused, but the thousand warning flags that flashed in his mind allowed him to keep still. His breath was even, his eyes were closed. The perfect picture of sleep.

Okay. What had happened?

He recalled going with Chloe to the hospital so she could visit Linda. He had wanted to stay outside and think, take a deep breath and sort out his feelings on the whole ordeal, on Charlotte.

His thoughts were on her "amnesia". He was 95% sure the woman had faked the sudden, conveniently selective, condition. To remember absolutely nothing of her time working for the LAPD and even denying knowing her step-son? He could understand the rest, he knew she had used him, but denying Lucifer like that seemed almost cruel.

He had been thinking, but… someone had been there. He had seen Lucifer a ways off, talking on the phone as Dan himself leaned by the hospital's entrance. Then… then someone had assaulted the consultant.

The stranger had hit Lucifer so hard that Dan had been able to hear the crack of his skull from where he was. He ran… he had tried to stop the masked man, but he'd had Grade-A military training.

He couldn't remember much else.

Dan opened his eyes slowly, showing no other signs that he had woken up, the cop in him always front and center in dangerous situations.

He was in a dark truck, a few rays of yellow and orange light flickered from time to time from outside and voices chattered quietly from the front cabin.

He breathed in and out in a constant, soothing motion to calm his nerves. His arms were tied with a plastic zip behind his back; his shoulders already ached with the strain. As he began to sit up, slowly so no one would know, he noticed his feet were tied too. God, was he out of it.

He shook his head a little and his eyes landed on the other motionless body in the truck. Lucifer was as unconscious as he had been, his hair tousled and his clothes rumpled. A dark, ugly bruise was blooming underneath his black curls.

Dan winced in sympathy, it looked painful. His eyes traveled over his body to check for other wounds and was surprised to realize his companion was not bound like him, instead his arms lay by his head and his body was positioned almost in peaceful slumber.

He remembered something then, a sudden awareness he'd had at one point. He'd woken up groggy, the truck in motion and Lucifer's face close to his. Two men crouched by the Brit, one sticking a needle into his arm and pushing the plunger, then he had gotten out another one and repeated the action… and then another one… and another one.

"No, stop." He had slurred, trying to get up as one of the men picked up yet another syringe.

Dan remembered he'd been scared, fear gripping his heart, because whatever drug it was they were pumping into him was going to kill him. As much of a resilience as Lucifer had to narcotics and outrageous amounts of liquor, it was _too_ much.

He'd blacked out again after a swift kick to the face from one of the kidnappers. Who knows how long it'd been since then, or where they were. or where they were headed. Who were these people? What did they want with Lucifer?

He sighed tiredly and shut his eyes tightly. With all the things the Consultant had his fingers into and his own damned luck, it was probably something as shady as the mob or something as equally dramatic.

God, Chloe was going to kill them.

* * *

CHAPTER 2: SO LIKE THE BASTARD

After several hours of driving, the sun blazing through the truck's cracks, Dan was beyond thirsty and his bladder had had an uncomfortable tightness to it for at least two hours now.

"How much longer?" Dan turned his attention to the people in the front cabin, it was the first time they had discussed something of relevance. That in itself told him they were used to this sort of work, it'd become natural to them.

"Few hours, don't you start now." Warned who Dan assumed was the driver.

"M' not. Geez." Whined the other.

The sound of a bag of chips being opened met Dan's ears, followed by loud crunching..

"Anyway, should we strip the bastard now?" Asked the copilot. "You know, just to be done with it and drop 'im."

"I suppose,." agreed the driver. "By the time we get there the sun'll be hot as hell."

The other man chuckled and Dan rolled his eyes, already expecting that.

"Hot as hell, get it? Because the man in the back's name is Lucifer?"

"Yeah, yeah. Very funny," snorted the driver.

Passing over a crater in the road, Dan banged his head on the wall. He bit his lip to hold in a moan of pain.

"What about our hitchhiker?" Asked the driver with a tired sigh.

"We can just dump him with the club owner, no big deal," said the copilot.

"Not part of the actual deal, man. We don't even know who that asshole is."

Dan held his breath and hoped the worst they would do was drop him wherever they were going to drop Lucifer. Worst case scenario, someone wanted the Consultant alive and no one needed Detective Espinoza's extra weight and he'd get a bullet to the head.

He sighed and tried calming his nerves again.

"Hey, if you don't have a better idea, let's just dump the guy 'n the same place." Complained the copilot as he munched his chips.

"Fine," huffed the other. "Let me pull over so you can get this done. Strip the other guy while you're at it. That'll be a fun surprise."

Chip guy sighed in exasperation as the truck parked, but got out without much complaining.

With quick, quiet movements, Dan laid back down and closed his eyes. He had to think this through carefully, take the best chance to escape. Now wasn't the moment, though, Lucifer was still unconscious and who knew how long he would be with the amount of stuff they pumped into him.

Oh, they were in so much trouble…

The doors opened and Dan felt the light of the sun hitting his face. He kept calm as his training kicked in.

"Damn, this guy is hot," whispered the man.

The detective heard him moving around, what sounded like shoes dropping and then more movement. He heard fabric shifting and flesh hitting the metal floor. Dan winced internally at what he thought must be the manhandling of the consultant.

Then there was a sudden rush of something, a popping sound, something big hitting the metal of the truck with incredible force, the shout of the copilot and the feeling of something soft pressing tightly against him.

Dan's eyes opened as he startled at the sight.

A bunch of pure white feathers were pressed right up to his nose. Slowly he began seeing the bigger picture; the feathers as a whole of something other- that something being a ginormous wing. He followed the appendage to the source and his heart stopped, the air escaping his lungs; the limb disappeared underneath Lucifer's naked back.

"Fuck!" He struggled to sit up and distance himself from the atrocity until his back collided with the corner wall and he couldn't get any further.

"Fuck!" He shouted again.

It was so like the bastard to sleep peacefully while Dan was losing his mind.

His attention was ripped from the suddenly six-limbed man in front of him by the angry, panicked shouting outside.

"I don't want to touch it!" the copilot exclaimed.

"We are getting rid of the freak! I don't care what you want and don't want! _Get in the car!_ " Replied the diver.

"No! NO! Let's just leave it in the road!"

Dan didn't know what happened then, he became distracted by the impossible creature in front of him that blocked his way out- not that he _could_ get out, tied as he was.

It was a strange thing, like the feathers had a magnetic pull to them. His breath stilled as his eyes were drawn to each individual vane.

Dan sighed out.

The wings they… they were beautiful.

When he broke out of his transfixed state, the truck was already moving, but wherever they were it wasn't the paved road anymore. Dan took a shaky breath in when he realized he'd lost time while enchanted by the… wings.

The two men in the cabin discussed something in furious whispers, sounding like they were losing their minds. Dan could relate.

He pressed himself harder against the corner and away from the thing in front of him, the thing that was _Lucifer Morningstar_ , for heaven's sake.

"Heaven…" Dan whispered. "Oh God." A sudden, horrified realization of who was with him in the back of a truck being kidnapped came to him. "Fuck." He whispered with a chocked sob as fear filled him and he pressed harder against the metal.

The truck rocked them violently; it made the wings bumble around in its crammed state. Through his fear, Dan thought it looked painful, stuck in different angles as they tried to fall in a more natural position; like trying to shove a bird into a too small cage.

As his catholic childhood returned to him full force, Dan began mumbling a prayer under his breath, hoping against hope that the Devil would never wake up while he was there.

One can only dream.

* * *

CHAPTER 3: THE MOTHERFUCKING DEVIL'S IN DETAILS

The truck stopped. Quickly and efficiently, to the credit of the two men having the mental breakdowns of their lives, they opened the back and dragged the angel-man out by his feet. Dan, who was still pressed into the farthest corner of the truck, watched as they worked.

The kidnappers made no more effort than dragging the unconscious body a few feet away from the truck, the white feathers dragging through the dirt and rising to the opposite direction they were supposed to be in disarray. As if Lucifer were a leper, they let go of his feet and quickly scrambled away.

"Just dump him with the other!" Instructed the driver as he climbed back into the truck.

Dan realized they were talking about him, but before he had time to think he was face down on the hard ground. Soon, the only thing left from their captors was the dust left behind from their mad escapade, hopefully to someplace where they'd never have to see something like this again.

Dan breathed in and out through his mouth and felt the rising panic move from the base of his stomach to his heart and lungs.

He was alone, in the middle of the desert, with the motherfucking _devil_.

His first instinct was to follow the example of their perpetrators and make a mad dash from the body, but he was tied like a pig about to be slaughtered. He tried wiggling away, but with his hands behind his back it was an impossible task.

He held in a strangled cry. Someplace in the back of his mind he guessed he deserved this, he'd done so many bad things in his life it was just a matter of time for karma to come a knocking.

More like the _actual devil_ in person.

"No need to panic. Everything's fine." Dan said to himself, taking deep breaths in an attempt to calm down. "He's still out, you have time."

Like _hell_ he was going to let the sucker catch him if he could avoid it.

He found a sharp enough rock after a few, shaky moments, and went to work.

He had done this before; he knew it was to break plastic ties, but he'd kind of forgotten _how_ hard it was.

He worked his hands up and down, up and down and whined every time a painful spike ran through his shoulders and arms. Dan could feel the plastic splitting and he pulled his wrists apart for a few second's until the tie snapped.

The tie was stuck to his skin where it had been rubbed raw. He peeled the thing off and got to work on his feet.

He worked tirelessly, his body pumping with adrenaline, his eyes never leaving the slumped body a few feet from him. The not-man who had worked with him and his wife for so long now, who spent at least half of the time Dan did with his daughter. His _daughter_. This creature had wormed itself into the lives of Chloe and Trixie.

Half of him was scared shitless and the others half kept being pulled in by the radiance of the feathers. The fascination he had to them only fueled his fear more.

A few heart wrenching minutes later, the tie snapped, and Dan ran.

* * *

CHAPTER 4: KIND-OF-PROBABLY

The adrenaline lasted him about fifteen minutes that allowed him to run nonstop. Then his feet caught and the world shifted off its axis as he stumbled and fell.

He laid on the ground leaning on his forearms, heaving for breath, struggling to just… make sense of the world again.

His head was in disarray, he couldn't think about anything, couldn't rationalize what was happening in his life. His heart rattled madly inside his ribcage and it wasn't just because of his escape from the creature and into the dessert.

Dan was _scared_. Not because the frightening new information he had learned had settled in, but because something else had- something feral and instinctual. That fight or flight that everyone had in their veins. That which kicked in when the moment came. And when you couldn't fight your opponent you _ran_. You ran and hoped you were fast enough to escape before whatever was after you caught up.

The ground was rough beneath his palms, pebbly and dry.

In his eyes flashed big, muscled appendages covered in a soft material so white it hurt to look at it. In his mind's eye he was a child again, exploring his grandparents ranch. A bird had crashed into the kitchen window and when he had gone out to see, it's chest rising and falling, it's tawny wings perfect with disheveled feathers as a consequence of the collision.

He shook his head slightly at the memory and looked at the deserted land. He felt disheartened. He didn't know where he was or where to go. The closest thing to a sense of direction Dan had was that he knew where the sun set in LA and he could _kind-of-probably_ follow its path to reach the city, but it was a big leap of faith he honestly couldn't take.

He had no water, no food, nothing at all. How far away was the city- or any civilization? Hours? Days?

Dan hid his face between his knees and placed his arms over his head, stifling a sob. He kept this position for a few minutes, the blazing sun burning his skin painfully as sweat rand down his neck.

He breathed. In… Out… In… Out…

Hot wind blew and ruffled his hair and clothes but alleviated the burning somewhat. Dan raised his head and looked with beady eyes back at his tracks.

A shiver ran through his body and behind his eyes flashed another image of the huge white wings.

Back there lay Lucifer, the real deal, a being that could probably destroy him on a whim. In the opposite direction was the desolate waste of the desert and if he was honest with himself, probably certain doom.

He closed his eyes and felt the fear that gripped at his heart squeeze a bit more. He lost his breath for a moment at the thought of the man.

Better the devil you know, though, right?

Dan stood up and dusted his jeans. He closed his eyes and with a shaky sigh he began his journey back to where he had started.

He was probably going to regret this…


	2. Of Second Thoughts on Cosmic Perception

**Abril: At last, the long awaited (?) second part! A ton of gratitude to all those who reviewed and faved! And them silent readers of course ;)**

* * *

 **PART TWO: Of Second Thoughts On Cosmic Perception**

* * *

CHAPTER 5: KINDEST OF THE SCENARIOS

The trek back took him about forty-five minutes. He didn't know if he had run that fast or if he was purposely delaying his inevitable encounter with… The Prince of Darkness.

That kind of made him wonder if Lucifer was really a prince? Or maybe a king? He was king of hell, right? Because if he were a prince, then there would have to be a higher, darker power than him, wouldn't there?

Before he realized, he was back. On the ground, right where he had left him and not an inch out of place, was Lucifer.

Dan didn't dare walk any closer than he was, but he did take a moment to study the man. Creature? Being? Thing…

His heart stuttered again. Lucifer's face was lax, peaceful in a way he hadn't seen very often. His usually tame and perfectly arranged hair curled over his head. His wings rested against his back, one closed and the other stretched lazily by his side.

The same memory of the tawny bird assaulted him, the rise and fall of its chest as it moved by proxy its wings. Lucifer's chest was just the same, stretching and contracting, the white wings following the motion. The scene was almost peaceful to look at.

The luring pull of the creature was broken and Dan took a sudden step back. He inhaled a shaky breath and the hairs on his arms and the back of his neck rose eerily. He was too close to it, _way_ too close to be comfortable.

After placing a bit more distance between them, Dan pondered on what to do next. He felt perhaps he really hadn't thought this through. In the desert he would've been lost and probably dehydrated before he could find anyone or anything. Here? It was probably just as bad. And really, he didn't have the courage to wake up the devil so they could both leave.

Well… not that said Devil would have to help him… he could simply take flight and… leave him to his fate in the desert. That actually seemed like the kindest of the scenarios that had crossed Dan's mind. Most of them culminated in a gruesome death after the Lord of Hell had a bit of fun before returning to L.A. to con people into believing he was a simple, if dick-ish, human.

He rubbed his eyes in frustration and fear, running his hands up and down his face.

He would wait it out, he decided. He'd wait until the Devil woke and see what happened next.

He looked around for anything that would offer him a bit of shade and found a group of tall Yucca plants some meters away. Dan walked towards them and sat down with a sigh. Without taking his eyes of the winged creature, he waited.

Time passed, a few hours he figured. Dan had remembered how much he had wanted to pee on the truck and those first hours of being kidnapped that now seemed so far away it was almost ridiculous.

After relieving himself, he turned to the Yuccas and looked at Lucifer. He hadn't moved much aside from the constant motion of his chest and the occasional twitch from one of the wings.

The Detective had discovered it wasn't the best of ideas to stare at the extra limbs for long. After a while, they pulled at his consciousness like a hypnotist. They burned his eyes as well, similar to the effect caused by looking directly at snow or a white sheet under the glare of the sun- blinding.

The biggest problem though, was that Lucifer hadn't woken up. Half of Dan sighed in relief every time he thought about it, but the other argued that he needed to get out. Another smaller and quieter part of him wondered about all the things that could go wrong once the Devil woke up, but he swallowed those thoughts and stayed.

Taking a deep breath, he walked closer to the unconscious creature, struggling to take the last few steps as his heart beat inside his chest a crazy rhythm by the name of "Fear".

Finally, Dan stood beside the body and, after a moment, crouched. He raised his hand and with trembling fingers reached for the shoulder- the sun had begun to peal the skin off of it, it looked raw and painful. Dan laid his hand on the other and sighed harshly, swallowing his fear back.

"Lucifer." He said in a quiet voice as he gave the man a slight shake.

Nothing.

"Lucifer." He shook his shoulder harder but the only result was the shift of one of the wings.

Dan stilled as the feathers made light contact with his wrist. He stood still for a few seconds, and for a moment, his rational mind left him. Shifting his fingers slightly, he placed the tips on the elbow of the wing and traveled a light path down a few times.

He exhaled and took his hand away, returning to the task at hand, but as much as he tried, Lucifer just wouldn't wake up. The image of the many needles their kidnappers had injected him with returned and a ball of worry rested on Dan's chest.

Had Lucifer been just an eccentric and lightly delusional club owner, he would've died from whatever they had given him. A few hours ago Dan would have probably held back some tears for his would-be-friend and their tentative companionship. He didn't know anymore, but the violation to the man still made his stomach turn.

He _knew_ Lucifer valued freedom above all else as much as he claimed sex, alcohol and drugs were better. Dan wasn't stupid, he could see how much the concept mattered to him, and wasn't that a weird thought? The Devil's biggest concern was his freedom and whether other people had it or not.

Dan stood and sighed despondently.

He looked up at the sky and saw the sun begin a slow trail down the sky.

* * *

CHAPTER 6: A SINGLE FACT

Night fell and Lucifer still hadn't woken up. Not on his own and not by any means the Detective had tried.

When the sun had been low and kinder, Daniel had found a Nopal with ripe Tunas. After carefully cleaning them of thorns with a sharp rock he'd found, Dan had eaten a few and the fruit had momentarily quenched his thirst and some of his hunger. He'd cleaned a few more for later and another few for Lucifer for when he woke up.

He'd felt stupid after, how could he offer the devil some fruit? Did he even need to eat?

Thoughts of inadequacies and things bigger than himself filled his mind as the sun hid behind the horizon and painted the sky in precious pinks, oranges and purples. And as the daylight went, another sort of light took place in the velvet dark.

Stars.

Dan occupied himself thinking and watching the celestial bodies move as slow as slow can be for a few hours. When he looked back down at the body on the sand from where he sat beside the Yucca, his mind stilled.

A slow wind blew Lucifer's hair and gently ruffled the white feathers that glowed softly in the dark. Dan stilled too.

How much a single fact affected his whole view of a person, of the world, it seemed almost silly. Without the wings he was just Lucifer, annoying consultant and partner of his used-to-be-partner. A man that loved pushing his buttons as much as he loved being surprised by Dan "The Douche".

His sort-of-friend, now was something else, a creature of evil and deceit… But in the dark of the night, as unnatural as he seemed, he looked more like the Lucifer he'd known than an otherworldly creature.

He too, enjoyed pushing the few buttons the man had, he too loved being surprised by the way Lucifer said his name when they were on better terms.

 _Daniel._

Now, everything was different.

He shivered at the knowledge he now possessed and wondered if he'd ever get back home- be it by his own means or by otherworldly help. He kept thinking if it would be better to just leave now that the sun was gone and he could make his way across the desert without having a heatstroke.

Half of him wished Lucifer would just wake up so they could talk and figure things out. The other half hoped he never did and that the man slumbered his life away.

And then there was a minuscule part of him that hoped nothing had changed between them. Dan squashed that pathetic insect of a hope and closed his eyes against the winds of the desert.

* * *

CHAPTER 7: LIKE A VERY STUPID IDEA

The pleasant heat that had been left behind by the burning sun of the day began to gradually disappear. When Dan woke up from a restless sleep, he realized just how cold it had gotten. It was ridiculous. The sun had been burning his skin off all day, even under the shadows, now he couldn't stop shaking with the cold of it.

Lucifer maintained himself unbothered, lying as he'd been all day, chest down and wings half spread. Dan really didn't know if he could feel cold, but if he did, he was sure those enormous things where keeping the Devil warm.

He huffed in annoyance and huddled closer to himself.

Half an hour later he couldn't get back to sleep and the more he thought about it the more he shivered. All the while, and a strange thing indeed, he kept gazing at the feathery wings of Lucifer. Just _thinking_ how warm they must be underneath.

He blushed and cursed himself under his breath for stupid thoughts like those.

Another 30 minutes went by and the running thought of _cold_ inside Dan's head was unbearable.

It seemed like a very stupid idea. Stupid and dangerous and, _dear God_ , why was he even thinking about it?

He took five minutes more of it until he stood up with a jump and walked decidedly towards the other. He stopped a few feet away from Lucifer, heart pounding again with fear.

A wind blew another shiver from the nape of his neck to his arms, it made Dan frown with determination. He crouched down, the pebbly ground crunching beneath his shoes, and after sending a prayer to the heavens in hope he would survive the experience, he laid down.

Gently he lifted one of the wings, Lucifer facing away from him, he sighed and inched closer, placing the feathery blanket on top of himself. The difference was instantaneous, a few moments later he sighed in relief.

He looked ahead and was greeted by the starry night sky, it had moved a lot since he'd last peeked at it. It was infinitely beautiful.

His body and mind betrayed him then, for when he closed his eyes he fell right down to sleep. In the distance, a song of howls broke free as a few coyotes played about under the light of the stars.

* * *

CHAPTER 8: YOU MIGHT NOT KNOW WHAT TO DO

The heat woke him.

Daniel opened his eyes, blue and big, immediately aware of where he was and how he'd gotten there. He inhaled silently and deeply, wondering _how_ in all the seven hells he'd _ever_ thought this was a good idea?

He shifted his eyes and exhaled a 'thank you' to the heavens when he looked at Lucifer and saw him still unconscious. Gently, he lifted the wing he was under and rolled away from the warmth of the other's body. He placed it down just as gently and paced away.

He looked around, the sun wasn't that high up yet, it barely topped the horizon, but the heat was already beginning to rise. Dan dreaded the day ahead and the smell of burning flesh that would undoubtedly be exuded by his skin.

He looked down at the creature of a man and the anxious worry from yesterday returned to him. Fear of the Devil wasn't the only thing he had for the man, he worried about the amount of drugs they had filled his blood with and wondered again if even beings of incredible power could be mortally affected by them.

But the chest of the Consultant still rose and fell, silent and constant. At the very least there was that.

Daniel took a deep breath and again prepared himself for the task.

"Lucifer? Come on, man, wake up." He shook the other's shoulder with force.

Nothing.

" _Lucifer_." Once again Dan shook him and when he got the same results he gave the man a few light pats on the cheek.

He sighed, brow wrinkled with worry.

"Hey, you know who'll be very pissed at you if you pull this off again?" He asked, trying to sound angry "Chloe, that's right. She's going to cut off your ball's for doing this to her again, you know. For _abandoning_ her." When he received no answer he slapped the other hard and instantly backed away in case Lucifer decided to wake up.

Nothing.

Dan rubbed his face and grabbed at the ends of his hair, pulling in frustration.

This was _bad_. If he left Lucifer's body here to get himself help and if he decided against all logic to return and it turned out the Club owner had _died_ … Well, that was going to be on him. As much fear as he constantly had at what the man really was and what it all really meant, he didn't want Lucifer to _die_. Not really.

Despite his track record and the _situation_ with Malcom, it wasn't… it wasn't an easy thing he had done. Despite knowing what Lucifer truly was, leaving him to die – _could he even die?_ \- he didn't know if he could live with a decision like that again.

He bit into his fist and muffled a desperate sound. What was he going to do?

He looked at the sky, hoping for an answer, anything. If God was really out there, what would he want Daniel to do? Save his son? Leave him to his fate?

If God hated his son and wanted Dan to let him die, could he do that? He didn't think he could. Lucifer was… his friend.

Would he go to hell for that?

He shivered at the thought and closed his eyes when they started to burn.

No, even if that were true, Dan knew he would have gone to hell for other various reasons, all of them from long before he even met the Devil.

The detective's fate was his fault and no one else's. Whatever he'd done, he'd done it himself. There was no " _The Devil made me do it_ " and there never would be. At least not for him.

Daniel couldn't leave him. He resigned himself to wait again.

After his moment of panic had passed, he ate the last Tunas he had piled from yesterday and went looking for more. Just as he'd done the day before, although he felt silly, he cut and peeled a few more in case Lucifer woke up and needed to eat.

He sat down against the Yukka tree, knees bent and arms resting a top of them, the fruits beneath the shade on top of a dried leaf he'd found.

As he looked at Lucifer again, he cringed at the raw flesh on his back, shoulders and arms. Like thin old wallpaper, the skin lifted up and rolled at the edges of his wounds.

Just as he was thinking about the pros and cons of trying to move the large body underneath a bit of shade. He lost his breath in a surprised gasp and held very, very still.

It was like his nana had always said.

" _Careful for what you wish_ Mijito _, you might just get it, and if you get it, you might not know what to do with it."_

 _God_ does he wish he had listened.


	3. Swimming The Desert Sands

**Abril: Guess what I found?! My USB with the lost chapter of this story (it's been gone for about 2 weeks), it was, of courses, in the silliest place.**

 **Without further ado, Daniel and Lucifer finally talk.**

* * *

 **PART THREE: Swimming The Dessert Sands**

* * *

CHAPTER 9: THE CREATURE ROSE

For the first time, the limp body moved by its own volition.

It began with a shift of bare shoulders that moved the wings just slightly. Placing his arms underneath himself looked like a struggle as a deep uncomfortable breath rushed into the Devil.

The man made an effort to inhale and exhale and shifted again until he had the weight of his torso on his forearms.

Dan was frozen.

He was stuck in place as he had no other choice but to look at the back of the struggling Consultant- the Devil in the flesh.

 _Oh God_. He thought as every little fear rushed into him again. He sat still.

A groan of pain and a held in whimper came from the other.

"What…?" Came the soft whisper of a word from the confused man.

The wings shifted and brushed over the ground. A tentative hand reached to touch them, when it did, the man lost it.

" **No**." Lucifer said in a harsh tone and then again more desperately. "No, no, no, _no_."

With a gasp of pain the creature rose from the ground to his bare, burnt feet.

"You cannot do this you worthless piece of garbage!" He shouted at the sky as Dan watched wide eyed " **No!** " He said it with such force the Detective thought the ground had momentary trembled.

Anger was overtook by desperation as the Devil gripped a tuft of feathers and _pulled_. He pulled and yanked with a mixture of rage and urgency that had him turning in circles to get a better grip on the limb.

Dan went unnoticed.

The action went on for a moment until a ripping noise was heard, followed by a pained gasp, and the tall man let himself fall to his knees. A series of fast, deep breaths entered the Devil, a quiet sound like a sniff from holding tears in.

Sitting on his ass and grabbing at the flaring limb, Lucifer arranged himself on the ground and grabbed the same spot of rumpled feathers, his intent clear despite how obviously painful the previous action had been.

Just as he pulled once more, unable to hold another gasp of pain from his lips, Dan snapped into action without meaning to.

" _Stop_."

For a moment, everything was still.

Turning his head so fast another person would've gotten whiplash, the Devil looked back into troubled blue eyes.

"Daniel?" Came a confused inquiry that was soon replaced with a drowning realization. The dark eyes of the Devil widened.

Neither said a thing as they looked at one another. When Dan gathered himself, he repeated.

"Please _stop_." The Detective said with a strangled whisper.

Apprehensive eyes looked at him, but the tight grasp that held onto the feathers slowly sloped down and let go.

* * *

CHAPTER 10: DON'T LOSE YOUR HEAD, DOUCHE

"So… I suppose you know now." Lucifer said in a quiet, clear voice, never taking his eyes from the other.

Daniel nodded minutely, he was still sitting against the desert tree, frozen in place with his arms holding his knees. The Detective wet his lips and swallowed, preparing to speak, but there was nothing he could say.

Lucifer shifted then, but stopped, still as a marble statue when Dan flinched back almost unnoticeably.

The wings shifted against his back and pressed tightly in an effort to make themselves as unthreatening as possible. Lucifer inhaled a pained sound at the movement, but kept looking at Dan.

"I won't hurt you, Daniel." He said with a calm, soothing voice, calming the almost but not quite metaphorical animal. As things were, the comparison was not farfetched at all.

Dan nodded again and something in Lucifer's voice made it so that his muscles untensed if just slightly.

"Are you okay?" Daniel asked and was just as surprised as Lucifer seemed; the words had left his mouth almost without his permission. "The… the men that took us drugged you," he explained "like, _a lot_."

"The men that took us?" Lucifer asked confused, but his face suddenly morphed in to a raged sneer. He stood up abruptly and stiffened, his pained groan morphing into a growl.

Dan was ignored again, but stood at the same time as the Consultant, his hand outstretched in front of him in an instinctively protective manner though it wouldn't help much if it came down to it.

Lucifer stalked back and forth like a menacing feline, talking under his breath about 'puny humans' and 'how dare they' with quite a lot of blasphemy from what Dan could catch.

The Devil stopped in his tracks and turned to the Detective, Dan tensed, his body prepared to bolt at any given moment. Lucifer stalked closer but stopped again as the other took a few desperate steps back.

The creature before him took a deep breath and forced his burning temper down.

"Now, dearest douche," the taller man said between his teeth. "Do you know what happened? Or have you been unconscious just as I?"

Dan visibly swallowed and looked the Devil in the eyes, careful to avoid the blindingly white limbs on his back in case he lost track of time again.

"We were at the hospital, remember? We went to see-"

"Linda." They both said, Lucifer's brown eyes filled with a deep sadness.

"Yeah," Dan nodded. "She'd been badly hurt." His body was still tense as he talked to the other, one hand on the tree behind him and the other still in front of him, lowered but cautious.

"I was outside, waiting for Chloe when I saw you and… there was a man there, he hit you with a bat. I ran to help you but he was _good_. Grade A military training."

The Devil frowned in front of him as he acknowledged the information.

"I don't remember much from then but… when I woke up next they were pumping you with drugs. I don't know where they were taking us but, they freaked out when your…" Dan moistened his lips, apprehension in his face. "When your wings popped out."

The Detective looked down and wondered how he had explained all that without stumbling over his words like a scared child. He wracked his brain again at his own words ' _when your wings popped out_ '. If he'd thought his life was weird before, it didn't hold a candle to the batshit crazy that was happening now.

"They dumped us in the desert as soon as they could," he continued, looking back up. "I couldn't stop them, they took your clothes, our phones. We're basically stranded here."

The Detective stood with his back to the tree as he kept a careful watch on everything the Devi did. Lucifer frowned slightly.

"I know this might seem quite alarming to you, Daniel, but I assure you, you have nothing to fear from me. I don't want you losing your head over this tiny change of events, yeah?"

The man's eyes bulged incredulously.

" _Tiny_ change of events? _**Tiny**_?" Dan laughed without humor and a great deal of indignation. "Man, this is not ' _tiny_ '. You're… you're the _freaking Devil_ , dude! What am I supposed to do with that?"

"Well, its not like I haven't been honest about it." Lucifer scoffed, crossing his arms and rolling his eyes.

"No, wait a second; you knew damn well we all thought you were full of shit! You knew! You just let us believe whatever it was but the truth!"

"Don't lose you head, Douche, remember?" The Devil reminded him, sneering at the other.

"Oh, I lost my head alright; you just were too unconscious to notice. No, no. I've had a _long_ time to adjust to this," said the detective with fervor.

It was incredible how a disagreement could pull them both back to their usual animosity. It didn't last though, because Dan's words had given the Devil pause.

"How long have I been unconscious?" Lucifer frowned.

Daniel exhaled and crossed his arms, looking at the ground and thinking for a moment.

"If we count the ride here and the time we've been in the desert, I'd say about two to three days," the Detective assessed.

" _Shit_ ," Lucifer hissed beneath his breath. "The Detective will skin me."

"Well," Dan sighed, "if it's any consolation, you won't be the only one."

The fight was over then, both man and Devil aware that the last thing they needed now was to be at each other's throats. Daniel rubbed his hands on his face and crouched beside the Yukka.

"Here." He said as he picked up the few Tunas he had cleaned and with careful steps, closed the gap between the Devil and himself. His heart rattled inside his chest.

Lucifer looked curiously at him as the shorter man presented him the fruits.

"I… saved these for you, though I don't know if you really need to eat…" He trailed off and just left his hands where the creature would be able to reach.

There was a surprised glimmer in his dark eyes and something else that Dan almost though could be sadness.

"Thank you." he took two of the three Tunas and bit into one. "I can survive a _very_ long time without food and water, but that doesn't mean my throat isn't screaming at me for a drink of _anything_." He chuckled and began eating the other one.

"Yeah, don't mention it." Said the Detective and offered the last Tuna when Lucifer was finished "There's a lot close by if you want more."

The Devil nodded and dried his mouth with the back of his hand when he was done.

There was an awkward silence then, as nobody knew what to do next.

* * *

CHAPTER 11: QUITE THE FEAT

"I guess you could fly home if you wanted." Daniel suggested when they sort of got used to one another. He shut up promptly, however, at the fiery look the Devil shot him.

"Well, for your information Daniel, these detestable appendages are a new development. Last time I woke up they weren't there." He hissed slightly. "And I don't want them there either, I had Maze cut them off for a reason."

Dan's breath left him. He could vividly remember their encounter with Boris at the bathhouse; the two huge, raw-looking scars covered almost the whole of his back. He'd never asked about them, it wasn't his business, but Chloe had told him some.

"Your scars?" He asked and thanked God his voice was steady.

"Yes, my _scars_." Lucifer looked at the sky with an anger so potent Dan could almost feel it. "And even if I wanted this feathery menaces, I wouldn't be able to fly back to Los Angeles." He mused "It's been years since I've flown and movement is… well it's rather painful."

Daniel nodded, incapable of understanding, but able to imagine it perfectly fine. He looked at the opposite side of the sky where the sun rose.

"Well, I'm pretty sure Los Angeles is that way." He pointed at the sky and Lucifer followed his finger then nodded.

"You'd be quite right about that." The devil agreed and sighed. "Should we get a

move on then? I would love a hot bath and my bed as soon as possible."

"God yes." Dan almost moaned at the thought, he had dust in places were the sun didn't shine.

"Wrong deity I'm afraid." Lucifer scoffed without too much care. He backtracked, though when Dan coughed out of shock and doubled over with his hands on his knees.

" _Fuck_." Whispered the Detective.

Lucifer blinked."I guess that has a whole new connotation, doesn't it?"

"You think?" Dan asked exasperated, but it was like nothing had changed between them, he was still an insufferable ass.

"Okay." The Detective took a deep breath in and righted himself. "Let's go."

With the sun on their backs, they began to walk.

The mood was ever so awkward as the silence stretched, accompanied by a few feet of distance between them.

The day moved on and with every step they took, the bright star climbed higher and higher into the sky, burning more every second than the one before.

Lucifer seemed to be handling it fine enough, even without a shirt and his body already covered with terrible burns, as if they were nothing more than an annoyance. His movements were graceful and his back held straight.

Dan on the other hand tried to hide his discomfort as the heat began roasting his face, neck and arms, his own skin beginning to peel off like the Consultant's.

"Here," the Devil said quietly and in a moment, the burning of the sun disappeared from his back.

Dan sighed silently in relief.

When he looked up there was a beautiful roof of white feathers over him.

His eyes caught on the light for a moment, mesmerized by the beauty of every individual sunlit vane and how they shone. As he closed his eyes he rushed to look away, mortified at what Lucifer would say about his sudden lapse of sense as he'd stared dumfounded at his wings.

"I don't think I've ever given you enough credit." Lucifer said quietly. "You might not know, but it's quite the feat to ignore a heavenly sight, not many mortals can."

Mortal, right, because that wasn't the norm now.

Dan risked a look at his companion; there was no mocking face or sarcastic tone to him as the Devil looked ahead. When Dan kept quiet, Lucifer continued speaking.

"Some have lost their mind and their sense of time just by looking at them, so don't take my words lightly, Daniel."

"I won't." The Detective said after a moment. he looked ahead again and felt the slight brush of a feather on his head.

As they walked across the infinite expanse of desert, they said nothing more for a long time.

* * *

CHAPTER 12: AIN'T THAT JUST LIKE ME?

Mostly, they walked quietly. Lucifer's insistence to cover him from the sun was heaven sent in every way possible. Daniel wouldn't tell him, but he'd been having trouble breathing because of the heat.

Sometimes the feathers brushed against his skin, they were soft, softer than anything he'd ever felt. Like feathers but… different, other-worldly. The vanes brushed him and sometimes they distracted him from thinking too much.

Lucifer sang, too and not like he was used to. Dan had always heard him at the club, obnoxiously good and passionate, with the face of a man who _knew_ he was good, who he _knew_ there was no one in the room better than him. But this was not like any of that.

The devil sang without force, quietly and almost under his breath, just loud enough that Dan could listen to it perfectly. He didn't seem to make an effort to make whatever he sang sound good, it was just the gentle song of someone trying to occupy their time.

" _Look up here, I'm in heaven_ …" It was nice too, just listening to him as they made slow way across the barren land.

"… _I've got scars that can be seen_ …" The sun was in it's very center and burning hard over them.

"… _I've got drama, can't be stolen_ … _everybody knows me now_ …" Lucifer hummed a bit after that, almost sweetly and sang some more

Dan knew Lucifer had told him the sun would do him nothing compared to what it could do to the Detective, but sometimes he could swear he saw more bits of skin peeling off the man bit by agonizing bit.

"… _by the time I came to New York_ … _I was living like a king_ …" His shoulders and chest looked almost raw but Lucifer took it without complaint. Dan thought for a man who he was used to hearing whine ¾ of the time he spent with him, he was being awfully settled.

"… _this way or no way_ … _you know I'll be fre_ e _…just like that bluebird… now, ain't that just like me?"_ All of a sudden, it was quiet.

Lucifer stopped and Dan with him, keeping under the shadow of the wing.

"What is it Daniel?" He asked as he looked down at the Detective.

The Detective was almost put out by the quiet way Lucifer carried himself and laid his eyes on him. His voice rich as ever, whether it was in song or not.

Dan thought about it and for a moment he felt like he couldn't take his eyes from Lucifer's dark ones. It was like looking at the wings all over again. The feeling disappeared almost as unexpectedly as it had appeared.

"I… don't know." He answered honestly; everything was so out of order the world felt senseless now.

Lucifer nodded once and pointed with his chin to their inexistent road.

"Let's keep a move on, with any luck we'll find somewhere we can rest, or a road."

They continued ahead. Dan's legs ached from the long trek, but he said nothing.

Lucifer sang again.

"… _look up here, man, I'm in danger_ … _I've got nothing left to lose_ …"

 **Abril: I swear I'll change the chapter title if I find something better.**

 **Song Lucifer sings is Lazarus by David Bowie in his album Blackstar.**

 **So, what do you guys think'll happen next?**

 **Update:** **Chapter title was originally "Why Are Dessert Stories So Goddamned Boring?"**


	4. I Get By With A Little Help From My Frie

**Note: Listen to "Illuminations/Clouds" from The Leftovers soundtrack while reading CHAPTER 15 for ambiance. The song was played on loop as I wrote it.**

* * *

 **PART FOUR: I Get By With A Little Help From My Friends**

* * *

CHAPTER 13: UNSUCCESSFUL NONCHALANCE

It was with much effort and barely manageable, but Daniel Espinoza was trying to keep his labored breathing under control. They had been walking under the sun for hours without more than the occasional five minute break since they started. The sun had already passed its peak in the sky and the dried up, crunching floor radiated heat like a furnace.

Dan. Was. Exhausted.

But Lucifer? Yeah, he was sweaty and unusually unkempt, but he still walked like he was breezing through and hadn't complained _once_. Except for that one time to cry about his ruined suit, but that didn't count.

The Detective had to stop soon, for real, or he wasn't waking up to walk another day. Damn his pride to hell, this really wasn't worth it. And what was he even thinking? He was not going to win an endurance competition with the _goddamned Devil,_ for heaven's sake. And this was so not a competition, damn it.

"Man, we have to-" He took a deep breath as he whizzed through his words. "We have to stop." Another ragged breath in. "I'm not going to- make it- if we don't take a- take a break soon."

The taller man turned to look at him with a witty retort ready in his lips.

"Oh." Lucifer said when he looked down at the Detective, his eyebrows high on his forehead in clear surprise. "I suppose that can't be avoided." He halted.

As soon as he stopped, Dan let himself down to the ground. _Christ_. He thought.

His hands and behind burned with the leftover heat of the ground, but damn that, he was beat and there was no way he was standing up again for at least a few hours.

"You don't look great." Lucifer pointed out. "Well, I mean, you look worse than usual." He amended without real malice.

Dan huffed but had no energy to reply the jab at his pride.

"Please Lucifer, let's just… I really, _really_ can't walk anymore." The Detective admitted as he placed his head atop his arms on his knees.

Lucifer looked uncomfortable, not really knowing what to do with the display of vulnerability. He shifted his bare feet on the dirt and his wings twitched slightly, glimmering under the sun.

"It there… something you need?" The Devil asked with unsuccessful nonchalance.

"Well I'm pretty sure I'm dehydrated. But we can't really do anything about it." The blue-eyed man was beginning to regain a bit of his semblance.

"You can die from that, right? People die from dehydration. I think some of my demons use that for torture sometimes." Lucifer said with a note of concern, like a child just realizing what taking care of a puppy actually meant.

Dan looked at the immortal being weirdly, rapidly progressing from tired and confused to horrified because, _sweet Jesus, was Lucifer actually talking to him about how people got tortured?_ And that of course lead to him thinking how he was going to be tortured when/if he went to hell. His heart stopped for a few beats.

 _Don't think about it, it's fine, it's fine. Just don't think about it._

The Detective repeated in his head as his eyes wandered to the Devil's hands wondering how many souls the man, the being, had inflicted terrible pain upon.

"Am…" Dan shook his head and looked up at the angel. "I think I'm fine for now. If we find another nopal I _should_ be fine." He said " _I think_ …" he then mumbled to himself, unsure about how the endurance of a person with little food and liquid in them fared in the dessert.

"Right." The dark eyed nodded and straightened his back "Well, I better find some before you pass out on us like a common damsel."

"Right." Dan repeated unimpressed and watched as Lucifer wandered away.

He did not realize though, that the thought of the Devil leaving him behind to die in the boiling sands of the Mojave didn't scare him anymore. Instead, the only thing on his mind was concentrating on taking in deep and steadying breaths of air into his lungs.

Not for much longer now, the sun would be setting.

* * *

CHAPTER 14: JUDGING THE MAN BY HIS COVER

Of course Lucifer was incapable of doing something nice without expecting to be showered with adoration and then complaining about said nice act like it had been the greatest struggle to anyone who would listen. The "fruity little pricks," as he referred to the tuna, had been unsuccessful in hurting him and he had proceeded to make innuendos about his own jokes to an unwilling ear.

It presented Dan with a huge challenge to try and _not_ sigh into eternity. He did sigh though. And he _was_ grateful, despite the overly theatric antics; which had kind of been missing for the length of the day. The Devil probably thought that it'd been enough of a respite from the fright of cosmic revelations that he'd suffered.

The sun was trailing its way down again. Another day in the desert was passing and leaving them behind.

"If we go to sleep now we can get up before the sun and avoid some of the burn tomorrow." Dan commented as his bit into his warm tuna.

Lucifer opened his mouth, in what the shorter of the two was sure was going to be another quip about his subpar endurance compared to his, but the Devil shut up and looked at him up and down.

For a fraction of a moment Dan thought about the long list of lovers this man-being had and a spike of mortification coursed though him at the thought of being ogled by a well known sex addict. Adding that to the fact that he was now "in-the-know" of said man's otherworldly identity did nothing for his nerves; to say the least, he was well into feeling uncomfortable right now. Lucifer's searching eyes final stopped though.

"How are you feeling, really?" The Consultant finally asked a moment later.

Daniel did a subtle double take at the other's show of concern, lowering his eyes when he felt a tiny sense of shame. He was once again judging the man by his cover like he'd been doing since the day he met him. In the back of his head, Chloe was chastising him for it and explaining how Lucifer's social defense mechanism –as annoying and unacceptable as it was- was making fun of people and taking stabs at their insecurities. He cared a lot, even if he didn't know how to show it properly at times.

"I'm better. Not great but… better." Dan said. "These helped a lot, so thanks." He said picking up another tuna.

"Just returning the favor." The Devil said, shifting his gaze from the Detective to avert the gratitude.

After talking some more and watching the sun sink below the horizon, they laid down on the hard ground trying to settle down for the night.

Lucifer's wings, which had become like background noise now, stretched some as the angel laid on his back and contained a noise of discomfort; they where still paining him a bit. Some feathers brushed against Dan's arm despite their distance and he closed his eyes for a moment, trying to avoid the lure of the glowing appendages but enjoying the softness of them still.

The blue eyed man sighed out the heaviness of his body and tried rolling away the ache of his muscles and the after burn in them. He huffed a breath out and grunted.

"My soul hurts." The Detective complained with his hands rubbing at his hardened face with the dust that had accumulated over the days.

"It'll be fine Douche." Lucifer brushed him off with a flip of his hand. "And anyway, you _do_ need the exercise to control that little roll that wants to overboard your jeans." He jabbed with a playful smile.

"Ha. Ha. How funny." Daniel rolled his eyes but placed a hand over his stomach self-consciously. It wasn't _that bad_ , he was still in pretty good shape.

The ground was awfully hard. He wondered if he'd be able to sleep despite how bone tired he felt.

* * *

CHAPTER 15: UNNATURAL AND BEAUTIFUL

The night came and went, but neither of the two fell asleep. Instead, the nocturnal songs found both mortal and immortal gazing lazily at the stars. The coyotes were at it again, crying out somewhere in the distance, yapping at each other in a playful manner.

Despite all his hurts and his discomforts, and the soul crushing longing for his beautiful daughter, Dan looked at the sky and relished in the pretty sight it presented him.

It'd been so long since he'd last got to have a view like this. Perhaps since he last went to his grandma's ranch, so far away from any city and a land that expanded so long and so wide there were no obstructions for a late night to lie in dry pastures.

Dan turned to Lucifer, who once again had been oddly quiet in the dark. He knew the other wasn't asleep.

When blue eyes landed on the Consultant, who nested between two bulges of soft feathers, Dan was surprised; Lucifer looked kind of… sad.

"You okay?" The words escaped him without meaning to, as they tended to do when he was concerned.

Instead of brushing it off like the Detective expected, the angel sighed quietly.

"Of course I am. It's just… it's been quite a long time since I've taken the time to look at my stars." Lucifer said a bit wistfully, not taking his eyes from the dark blanket.

"Your stars?" Dan looked at him, puzzled.

"Yes. They are mine." There was a small, giddy smile on the Devil's lips. "I _made_ them."

Daniel said nothing, his eyes blown wide as he returned his gaze to the stars, thousands of shiny dots twinkling and blinking in and out of existence before him. The wonder and amazement of many a scientist, and every living soul on the planet revealed before him.

" _You_ made them?" He asked dumbly.

"Yes." Lucifer ginned at him expectantly.

"Like… from scratch?" The Consultant's words weren't quite processing in the Detective's cortex. _How was this even real?_

"Yes, Daniel. From scratch." Lucifer affirmed with a smooth voice.

The Detective chanced a look at his companion and gulped at the toothy smile of the other.

" _Wow_." He whispered.

"Yeah, I know." Lucifer turned to the sky, he could almost feel the contentment of the other man. " _ **Hey! My beauties!**_ "

Dan startled at the Devil's sudden shouting.

" _ **Say helloooo!**_ " He screamed long and so loud he had the Detective's heart thundering in his chest. "Look Daniel!" the Devil insisted as he turned and leaned on his elbow, shaking the other's shoulder and pointing to the sky.

His mouth fell open.

 _The stars_.

They were dimming and glowing in quick succession, almost all of them. They looked like Christmas lights as they blinked on and on. It was unnatural and beautiful and _so very_ breathtaking- Dan couldn't take his eyes away.

Suddenly, he choked out a laugh, full of disbelief, of wonder, of so many other things he couldn't name.

"I know." The Devil said, tears in his eyes as he smiled. "I know." He laughed too.

Dan laughed again and grabbed at his chest. He was amazed, the wondrous feeling in him barely contained.

"They are mine ,Daniel." Lucifer repeated and grinned contentedly.

For a moment, the Detective had the impression that the man meant so much more when he said ' _mine_ ' than he was grasping, he just couldn't put words into what that was. The angel's words were heavy with unknown meaning.

They laughed again as the stars subtly danced above them, quiet-like and beautiful, an otherworldly grace of a dimension Dan was only managing to glimpse at. Life would never be the same now, not after these last few days, not after tonight.

* * *

CHAPTER 16: I REALLY SHOULD'VE EXPECTED THIS (A SUDDEN FEELING OF DÉJÀ VU)

By the time the sun had risen over the horizon, Daniel and Lucifer had been walking for maybe two hours. Despite the awful hardness of the ground and the insomnia of the previous night, the Detective had been able to fall asleep in the end. The night had been cold, but the proximity to the Devil's warm wings had kept the edge off, allowing him to doze a bit.

Last night's conversation and display of cosmic wonder had loosened the remaining tension that had settled between them since the Devil's wings had unfurled. It felt easy, light like it had never been in the years they'd known each other -with a few exceptions here and there. The knowledge of Lucifer's hellish and heavenly natures was becoming background noise, just like his feathery appendages were -even though Dan still got distracted on occasion by their radiance, but the problem was easily manageable when he turned away just a little.

It was so strange. Like the Consultant revealing himself had enabled them to move past each others differences. That's not to say that a little part of Dan wasn't quaking with fear at all times with the subconscious knowledge of " _Satanas_ ", but that too was just another bit of white noise he could pretend wasn't even there.

And with most barriers down, there was a ball of words just trying to crawl their way out of the Detective's mouth, and had been for the better part of the day.

"Can I ask you some questions?" The blue eyed man finally blunted.

"Ah, I was wondering when this particular point of conversation would rear its ugly head." Lucifer said in a pleasant voice and gave his companion a look of mock annoyance. "Go on Daniel, satisfy your curiosity, it seems to be my only use on this earth after all."

"Wait, what do you mean?" Dan asked confused, but the answer hit him quickly, like a drunk driver on a brakeless truck.

"Oh God, someone else knows. _Who knows_?" The man had to resist the urge to tug at the other's arm for an answer.

"Some unfortunate sods here and there. And Linda." The Devil purred with a smirk.

"Your _therapist_?" He couldn't believe it. "Your therapist that you _banged_? How did she even take that?"

"Oh don't be so crude Daniel, we _made_ _love_." Lucifer laughed amiably, very clearly enjoying their topic of conversation. "But she did have a bit of a fright. Well, more like a few weeks of revolting terror actually... but she's fine now." He grimaced at his own words "Well, she will be soon." He amended with a sad tone, as he remembered the woman's current state at the hospital.

"What'd you mean weeks?" Dan questioned.

"She couldn't see me for _days_ , she was terrified. You actually took it better than her." Lucifer compliments him without any added mockery.

"Wow. Then I'm kind of impressed with myself." The Detective said softly.

"To be fair, she _was_ presented with a much less graceful visage of my persona, so I'm not sure your pat on the back is warranted."

A wing brushed lightly against the man's shoulder as they walked side by side. The sun still low enough to need no protecting from yet.

"What, like you have another face or something?" Dan joked, but silenced when Lucifer's features took on a sour look.

"Let's just leave it at that, shall we?"

And they did leave it at that, passing to more fun and interesting topics with which they could laugh about, then the horrifying yet hilarious realization that scientists were going to break their heads wondering what happened to the stars last night.

"Man, but like…" Dan fumbled for words with a happy smile on his face. "What _is_ the divine plan all about? What's our purpose?"

"Please," Lucifer scoffed "There's no _divine_ plan for you."

"What do you mean?" the Detective frowned.

Both men suddenly stopped one in front of the other.

"Daniel, come on. You can't honestly believe there is a divine plan for you. That's just dumb." When the Devil had no response from the other he continued, trying to explain with a displeased look on his face.

"Let me make this plain, yeah. You don't matter, Daniel. Like, _at all_. You're not even a grain of salt in the ocean of the so called 'divine plan'. You're not important. And God doesn't care about you."

Lucifer looked down at him, perfectly honest and clear about his words.

Dan had a sudden feeling of deja vu, like he'd been in this exact same position before with this exact same man more than once. He could almost feel the bile rising from his throat at the realization.

"Of course," The blue eyed man said.

"What _were_ you expecting Daniel, honestly?" The angel scoffed.

"I'm such an idiot," Dan mumbled as he rubbed a hand over his tired eyes. "I really should've expected you to pull something like this."

"Wait- what?" Lucifer asked confused.

"You know, I keep falling for this. I keep _trying_ to believe that you're actually a decent person, but you just keep fucking with me." The anger was rising in his worn out voice.

"Not actually a person, so-" Lucifer tried playing it off in his nervous confusion.

"No, you're right. You're not a person. You're just a fucking, arrogant, self satisfying asshole who enjoys watching other people make _complete idiots_ of themselves with well placed lies." His blue eyes burned the other with the spite of his anger.

" _Lies?_ " The Devil growled in angry indignation.

"Oh don't act like such a fucking confused saint, you know what you were doing, you always know what your doing. Just… pretending to be nice to me so you can drag my face in the ground and laugh afterwards! God, you've _done this_ to me before." Dan grabbed at his head at his own incredulity but righted himself up, taking a deep breath.

"Wait, Daniel-" But Lucifer couldn't finish.

"But you know what? I really deserve this. I should've expected it from you." The shorter man began walking away. "I deserve this for not learning my lesson when it happened before, and being _stupid enough_ when I realized you were the Devil and I still didn't get it, so."

" _Just wait-!_ " The Consultant trailed after him, but froze when the other shouted.

" _ **No!**_ " Dan raised a hand in the air in a stopping motion as he kept walking backwards " _Don't_ follow me, I don't want to see one single fucking feather of yours near me." He turned away again. "See you _never again_ hopefully." Mumbled the other as he walked away.

Lucifer stood watching him go, barely comprehending where the conversation had gone wrong, but knowing undoubtedly that it had.

For a single moment, he had felt like he'd finally got to know what having a friend felt like. A friend who knew who he was, one who was not bound to him by hellishness or that wasn't meant to fix him in any way; just a normal friend like everyone else's. For a moment he almost grasped at the ephemeral taste of what a human life could be like.

He should've expected this to be honest.

* * *

 **Abril: So, brief explanation of the months of absence from this story, because I really think you guys deserve it.**

 **I… lost my usb, again, and for real this time (those who've been following this story some time will know this was a problem before). Lost all the things I'd been writing for more than a year. It gave me a terrible writers block for all the things that were lost, I just** _ **couldn't**_ **write for a LONG TIME. But then I got to write again and it was great but this story just wouldn't give. I tried but the knowledge that I'd already written this chapter and I just couldn't remember what I'd written about... it just got me down.**

 **With that in mind, I want to thank you all from the bottom of my heart all the beautiful support and love you've been giving this story. I really don't think this would've been possible without all your lovely reviews to give me the extra push (and remorse for leaving this unfinished) to finally get down to it. All my love and thanks you amazing people still here :D**

 **Have heart! The last part of this story is already being written.**

* * *

 **Regarding chapter 15:**

 **I swear I tried to stop myself but I couldn't help it and the story took the reins from me and I just sort of made a kind of connection to my other story "Death of a Star". Like, it could, or couldn't be the same universe, but chapter 15 is very, VERY heavily inspired by that other story. So, yeah.**

 **Speaking of stars… I love Stars from Les Miserables musical… just fyi. Except the movie version is not the best, but Russell Crow is great, don't get me wrong, but his singing wasn't… great.**

 **Okay, bye-bye.**


	5. Sometimes All You Need To Be Is Willing

**Abril: I give special thanks to ProwlSIC for helping me look over this last chapter. The help was tremendously appreciated.**

 **This last chapter goes out to all of you wonderful readers who stuck until the end. I hope you enjoy.**

* * *

 **PART FIVE: Somtimes All You Need To Be Is Willing**

* * *

CHAPTER 17: A TORTUROUS FOREVER

Dan stomped briskly across the uneven desert ground; anger, indignation, and humiliation pushed him forward and made him forget for a second he'd just insulted, screamed and commanded at a _cosmic entity_.

His right eye burned for a second and he quickly rubbed at it before his body got any funky ideas like letting out any damned tears. He rolled his eyes, crying, like a _child_.

He seriously needed to reevaluate how he handled things. How could he let his guard down like that? With the Devil of all people? _The Devil?_ He even knew the guy, he was Lucifer _Fucking_ Morningstar, he knew how he was with people, how he liked toying with them. He'd seen it happen and experienced it himself first hand.

"You are a sad little man, Dan Espinoza." He mumbled to himself once the anger shimmering beneath his skin began to wane. He sighed and rubbed at his face once more. It felt like he'd been doing that increasingly as of late.

"Who needs the bastard anyway?" He declared as he tread forward. Sometime soon a road of some kind had to show, he was certain of it.

So he walked and the sun went up. He kept walking, and the sun reached higher still.

Then Dan stumbled.

For a moment he stood there, surprised by the betrayal of his own feet. He stopped looking at the ground and lifted his face, realizing then how long he'd paused and how long he was taking to process things just now.

"Shit." He whispered when he regained his bearings and took the facts into account.

He'd not peed today. His reaction time was slower. And now that he was paying attention he could feel the beat of his heart speeding inside his chest.

"Shit, _shit_." Dan cursed under his breath again and looked around for a nopal, he found none. This was bad; the nopal was the only plant he knew for sure he could consume safely. If he didn't find something soon to even mildly hydrate himself with, he was going to be in so much trouble.

There was nothing he could really do but to keep going in the hopes of finding something, anything at all.

"Let's go." He said to himself as he made an effort to keep his head on his shoulders. He soldiered on for an indeterminate time, half an hour more, or maybe it was two hours more... he wasn't so sure. The sweltering heat blazing over his back made it feel more like a lifetime of walking if he was honest with himself; sometimes short of breath and dizzier than before.

" _Ah_ -" Daniel stopped suddenly when his stomach cramped painfully. He took in a deep breath but it was like the air wasn't going in at all. His insides cramped again and again in quick succession until the Detective dropped to the floor and gagged but nothing came out. Then it did.

Dan vomited on the dry earth what he'd eaten and what little liquids he still had in him. He kept at it for what felt like a torturous forever until his face was tear streaked and the feeling of drowning was overpowering.

When he stopped his arms were weak and could barely hold him up as they trembled, his whole body shuddering.

" _Shit_." He said again, and sat back. "No, no, I don't need this right now, damn it." He covered his face furiously when his eyes began burning, he couldn't afford to cry, he didn't have the time, didn't have the water for it.

He wished so bad for the dull police station, for Trixie, for Chloe as well.

He choked back a quiet sob. He was so screwed.

* * *

CHAPTER 18: THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX

These sort of things happened so often in his day to day life, it was a wonder they still had the power to cause him more of an impression than the usual shrug off he gave them.

Humans and him… words never were quite enough to express what he meant and vice versa. There was always something missing, something that lacked color or depth, it just left him and others floundering about with little to no understanding, or in the worst cases, with a huge misunderstanding.

This was different though, it didn't feel like something that could be shrugged off and moved on from. He wasn't as obtuse as people seemed to think, he understood that –somehow, someway- he'd hurt Daniel; he just didn't understand _why_ his words had hurt the man.

Lucifer contemplated these things as he sat on the ground, flesh continuing to peel off slowly and annoyingly off his shoulders. He raised his wings above his head to ward off the inconvenience, even though he wasn't in any significant pain. It was more bothersome than nothing else.

He traced back his words and found nothing that could've hurt the Detective, he'd just stated his honest opinion on the fact. Was that enough? Were his thoughts just naturally hurtful to others? He didn't think so, he was always speaking his mind and no one was overly wounded by it. Well, except for… Daniel.

It was probably the man's own fault anyway, he lacked so much common sense that he was usually just jealous of how awesome Lucifer was.

No wait, that was wrong. What was Linda always telling him?

…

Blaming others for his shortcomings wasn't going to help him figure out things faster.

The angel huffed out in annoyance and rolled his eyes. It wasn't _his_ fault. It couldn't be. The Douche was just petty about anything Lucifer related. He exhaled forcefully and closed his eyes in concentration.

"Now, what would Linda say?" He pondered aloud.

" _Lucifer, you have to think outside the box. Often, problems that we blame on others can be solved by taking a step back and looking at our own actions._ " He mimicked her voice without much effort, making it sound whiny though that was probably just his own spin of the doctor.

"But that doesn't make sense, if I need to think 'outside the box' why would I even look at myself? Wouldn't that be thinking inside the box?" Puzzled, his lips curled into an irritated frown.

He flopped onto the ground and winced in pain slightly. The sensation of having his wings back was getting better, but it wasn't quite painless yet. Movement was still awkward and anything that he stretched too far would send spikes through his wings and down his spine. He sat back up again and began slowly rotating his shoulder blades, making sure every muscle got a bit of attention until he began to stretch the furthest regions little by little. As he did this, he kept thinking about the issue.

He went back to the conversation's beginning in his head, like Linda always told him, and thought about how it went and what action he'd made or thing he'd said that could've gone wrong.

Nothing seemed wrong though; the only thing 'wrong' in his memory was the steadily falling face of Daniel. What had been the exact moment that had happened?

He'd said " _Daniel, come on. You can't honestly believe there is a divine plan for you. That's just dumb._ " And there'd been a confused frown on the others face " _Let me make this plain, yeah. You don't matter, Daniel_. _You're not even a grain of salt in the ocean of the so called 'divine plan'. You're not important. And God doesn't care about you_."

He felt the answer so close, if he could only think about it harder or in a different way. If he were Daniel and someone told him God didn't care about him…

Lucifer's eyes popped open with the realization. Perhaps if someone told him that now, he'd just scoff at them. It wasn't news to him. But if someone were to tell him so when he still believed in his dad…

You don't _matter_.

You're not _important_.

God doesn't _care_.

You. Are. _**Nothing**_ **.**

Oh.

 _Oh._

Right then.

* * *

CHAPTER 19: FINDING THE RIGHT WORDS

The thing was… he wasn't very sure where Dan was. When the Detective had walked away and after his initial shock, Lucifer had turned the other way, ruffled feathers and all, and hurried wherever place was not taking him closer to the other man.

Lucifer grumbled a bit and looked at the sun.

"Say… I don't suppose you know where he went? Small chap I was with, handsome blue eyes?" He questioned.

A sudden flare of light hit him in the face and set a lock of his hair on fire.

"Oi! Bloody hell, _careful_!" He shouted as he patted down his hair urgently.

A sullen sensation reached him and enveloped him.

"Yeah, yeah, it's fine. Calm down, I know it was an accident." He mumbled, incapable of staying mad at one of his beauties.

The crestfallen feeling was replaced by a fervent fondness that made him chuckle.

"All right don't get all lovey dovey on me." He grumbled playfully. "Let's try again, do you know where the man went?" He asked the sun.

A few moments passed and nothing.

"Love?" He frowned at the sky.

A ray of light hit a little cactus a few feet from him, then another bush that was a ways away. Lucifer perked up.

"That's very helpful. I'm very proud of you." He added for good measure, he'd seen Chloe tell her spawn that when she'd done something correctly, even if it was rather simple.

A wave of fondness rushed over him, so powerful that it made him stumble to the ground.

"Good gracious," Lucifer wheezed, realizing he had to be more careful with what he said "Me too darling, just be more careful next time." He huffed and set to walk. He was setting things right one way or another.

A few hours later and with a couple more helpful little beams from the sun, he finally caught up with Daniel. The consultant took a deep breath and gathered himself, heading to the other.

"Daniel!" He called the other and hurried a bit after him.

"Oh, God." Mumbled the other, already rubbing a hand on his face.

"I know, I know, you don't want to see a single feather of mine, believe me I don't want to see them either, I'm the worst, get lost and all that jazz."

"Yeah, I think you've got it covered pretty well, so I don't see why you'd be here then." Dan kept walking on, not sparing the other a glance.

"Because-" Lucifer kept trying to stand in front of the other but the Detective kept skipping him. "Stop, will you? I'm trying to tell you something."

"Well I don't want to hear anything that has to crawl out of your mouth." He said with false cheeriness.

"Daniel, please stop. I want to apologize."

Dan stopped dead in his tracks and turned on his feet.

"You want to apologize?"

"Yes."

"You?"

"Yes."

"Lucifer Morningstar."

"Yes, yes. Me!" Grumbled the angel.

Dan looked at him weirdly.

"And I'm believing that you're being sincere about this because...?" the man raised an eyebrow as Lucifer took a deep breath and settled.

"I realize I'm not the best at understanding how emotions work but I did see that for whatever reason, what I said hurt you." He began.

The Detective scoffed and turned away again.

"No, no. Wait Daniel!" He turned the other around and held him by the shoulders in such a way that it wouldn't hurt him but he also wouldn't be able to escape his grip.

"Lucifer, let me go." Came the replay of barely reigned in fury when the realization settled in that he couldn't move.

"Listen to me first, _please_." And Dan stopped and looked at the intense gaze of the other, he sounded pleading, an edge of something desperate in his words.

Once again Dan's rage was tempered by a sudden burst of compassion for the other. And he _had_ felt compassion for Morningstar before and it always ended with Lucifer making fun of him; it seemed there were some things he just couldn't help. He sighed out a terribly long sigh, ready to be made a fool again.

"I'm listening." He said unimpressed and Lucifer smiled charmingly " _But_ , you have to let go of me."

"Oh! Of course, apologies." The Devil took his hands away and brushed a bit of invisible dirt off of Daniel's shoulders for good measure.

"Thank you." Dan took half a step back and sighed again, repeating "I'm listening."

"I… I know you think everything I say I do so to spite you or make fun and… that may be true sometimes," he added at the Detectives look " _but_ , it's also true that I _really_ don't understand much of the things you say or why you react to certain things the way you do…"

A hot breeze ruffled Lucifer's feathers, his efforts to come across as honest feeling almost astronomical to the being.

"After our little fight I sat down and thought of what I said to you and tried to figure out what I'd done wrong and I… think I understand now." He looked down for a moment, almost expecting the other to interrupt again or walk away but there was only quiet. "I… I'm _**sorry**_ Daniel. The history that I have with my father… well it's simply not yours and the things I've experienced are by no means something you'll ever experience. No, wait that sounds wrong." He looked up at the sun and took another breath and tried again "If I were so much younger than I am now and someone were to tell me my father didn't really care about me I… I would be pretty heart broken, _and angry_ , undoubtedly. I…" He was having a hard time finding the right words to mend this. "For whatever it's worth I don't think you're meaningless in the grand scheme of things. Not that there _is_ a plan for you or anything but… you matter." Lucifer finished lamely.

They looked at each other for a moment, the human tiredly and the immortal with slumped shoulders.

"You're… very bad at this." Dan finally said.

"It's not like I have a lot of experience in the matter." Mumbled Lucifer, looking away.

"Lucifer I'm not mad because of what you said… well no, I actually _am_ but… mostly I was angry because I thought you were playing with me again. I thought, 'Hey, this guy isn't so bad, I might even like him.' and then you said this and…." The Detective huffed "it just seemed to me like you'd waited for the perfect moment to strike me down as I opened to you."

"Well I didn't mean to hurt you Daniel, I just think my father doesn't care about anyone in general. Not you alone as an individual." Lucifer's wings twitched anxiously.

Dan sighed out and closed his eyes resignedly.

"Okay then. Apology accepted, I guess."

The angel's dark black eyes lit up immediately and his back straightened to his usual dignified pose.

"You do? Just like that?" Lucifer asked.

"Yeah." Dan nodded, smiling a bit in spite of himself "we had a bit of miscommunication, you're getting a hang of talking to people –despite being on earth for God knows how long- and from my part I'm still getting used to knowing all these heavenly and… hell-ish things are real. Just like you, it'll take me time. Sometimes I'm not going to react well to some stuff." Dan amended.

"Well in that case, I can answer all the questions you have to the best of my ability!" Lucifer smiled brightly, eager to please and make everything as it had been yesterday night and that morning.

Dan chuckled.

"That'd be nice." The Detective returned his smile. "For the record, it might be stupid of me but, I still choose to believe that God cares for us. There might not be a plan but… I _choose_ to believe we aren't all just little specks floating through space."

"I… yeah." Lucifer nodded, understanding they had different opinions on the matter. He was going to try his hardest to accept it as well.

"And thank you." Dan added.

The consultant raised a questioning eyebrow

"For saying I'm not meaningless." His blue eyes twinkled with appreciation.

"You should know, " Lucifer said with his usual regal way of speaking, "I can't lie Daniel."

* * *

CHAPTER 20: OH, THAT CAN'T BE GOOD

The dawn was approaching. Lucifer looked at the sky and thought if they started walking right away, maybe the star could give them another pointer or two in the right direction before it set completely.

It was just then, when things were more or less settled between them and Lucifer felt like he'd finally done something right that he noticed.

Despite the heat and the long hours of walking, Dan looked oddly pale. His chest rose and fell in short, uneven breaths; he looked haggard. That in itself wasn't very surprising after the last few days they'd had in the Mojave, but still…

"You don't look so good Daniel." Lucifer commented without the usual condescending tone. Now that he was actually paying attention, the man looked awful in fact.

"I don't feel so good to be honest." The detective said without any of the energy he had displayed previously. He swayed in place for a moment, and decided to sit down, unbalanced.

Lucifer, now rather preoccupied, took a worried step forward, his wings twitching again with new found anxiety.

"What are you doing?" The consultant asked.

"I'm very tired, man." Huffed Dan heavily, as if speaking had become a chore to him "I need to rest for a bit. I think I'm…"

"Daniel?" Lucifer knelt in front of him and grabbed his shoulders when the other swayed again. The man's eyes seemed glazed over. "Oh, that can't be good."

"It's not." He gulped on a dry mouth "I'm gonna… lie down for a second." The detective said, pushing against Lucifer's hold in an attempt to reach the ground. "Just a second." His voice was very soft now.

Before the man could reach the ground the angel guided his head to his thighs. A strange knot of worry settled in Lucifer's throat, one he'd not felt often in his life on Earth. Humans were so fragile, and he didn't know what was wrong with Dan.

"Yeah, you do that." He said, shaken by how hardly present his companion had become.

"It's just going to be for a moment." Mumbled Dan, hazy blue eyes closing to the world, and just like that he'd fallen asleep.

Without knowing what to do -if he should move Dan or not- and with a massive lack of ideas, the angel sighed worriedly and brought forth his wings. He sheltered the man and himself from the unforgiving heat and waited. Waited for the sun to hide away, waited for an idea of what to do to strike him, waited for the Detective to wake up and just be alright again.

A while later, and after the Devil controlled his concern, he assessed his companions' condition. There was no doubt now that Daniel was severely dehydrated, and he suspected a hospital would be their first stop when they got back to Los Angeles.

"Wait right here Dainel, I'll be right back." Lucifer told his companion despite knowing he was not being heard.

Standing up and hesitating briefly, the winged man walked away. On his return, he brought as many tunas as his hands could carry and resolved to wake the human up. But it was a useless effort, Dan wouldn't stir.

The night came and transpired; Lucifer kept vigil over the exhausted Detective wondering what he should do, pondering again what would do harm and what wouldn't. The truth was, he didn't have any answers. So, he continued waiting, hoping Dan would wake up and tell him himself.

The stars kept him company, and he sang under his breath to fill the quiet of the night.

Dan shuffled, waking up to the melodic voice of the club owner. It was dark.

"What happened?" He croaked weakly.

"You fainted." Lucifer answered matter factly. "Here," the angel tried pushing him up, but Dan was no help so he let him be.

The immortal offered him a peeled tuna instead, and with a heavy sigh the human accepted. He ate in silence for a while, barely managing to keep things down with the sudden pains that assaulted his middle.

"Thanks." The detective said once he'd finished and some time had passed. He sighed, shutting his eyes tightly. "I'm so screwed."

"Ah, don't be such a downer, Daniel, tomorrow things will be better." Lucifer said with cheer that was just a little faked. "So… how bad is it?"

"Well," Dan rearranged himself so he was looking up "it's definitely not good but… I think I'm not gonna die yet." He joked, but the other just frowned at him. "It'll be better tomorrow." He threw Lucifer's previous words back at him.

Lucifer huffed, but said nothing more.

They ate a few more tunas and watched the sky in silence as it trailed lazily over them.

" _She packed my bags last night pre-flight._ " The angel began singing again after a while. " _Zero hour nine am. And I'm gonna be haa-aa-aigh as a kite by then._ " Dan looked at him a moment, " _I miss the earth so much I miss my wife._ "

" _It's lonely out in space,_ " The detective sang along, and Lucifer looked down in surprise. "on such a timeless flight?" He continued uncertainly, not knowing if the immortal was okay with him joining in.

" _And I think it's gonna be a long long time 'till touch down brings me round again to find._ " Lucifer smiled lightly and then looked back towards the sky.

" _I'm not the man they think I am at home. Oh no no no I'm a rocket man._ " The devil sang as wonderfully as always, and Dan sang along softly.

Not long after, the man fell asleep, still weak and exhausted, as the stars tinkled up in the clear night.

* * *

EPILOGUE: HOME LAYS AHEAD

The next morning when Dan woke up, he seemed better. He was still tired and dizzy, but the heaviness wasn't so terrible that he couldn't find the strength to stay awake.

"Daniel! Joined the living once again, I see." Lucifer sounded awfully pleased by the fact, and it almost made the other chuckle.

"As much as I can." He said, and shoved the flustered part of himself that realized he'd slept all night with his head on top of Lucifer's thighs" . He stretched his back and looked around. "We really should get moving, now that it isn't so hot."

"Indeed. The sooner we can get you to a hospital, the better." The Devil commented, as he stood up and offered the other a hand.

"That too." Agreed Dan with a frustrated sigh.

"So, a little breaky before we start?" Lucifer clapped his hands with his usual cheerfulness back.

"Gee, I wonder what we could possibly have for breakfast today." He replied sarcastically.

Both men turned to look at a nopal, one not too far away.

"Ah, the specialty of the house it is." Lucifer grinned sharply, and they set on their way.

As the pair continued their trail down the dessert, Dan got weak again. It wasn't as bad as yesterday had been, but Lucifer had to offer a shoulder for the other to lean on from that moment on. Their pace was slowed as they walked ahead, and the sun had pointed them in roughly the same direction they'd originally taken but any signs of civilization had yet to show.

That is, until Dan looked up from the ground.

"Lucifer," He said, slack jawed for a hot second. "Lucifer, look!" he pointed gleefully at the horizon "It's a road! _A road!_ " he shouted in elation.

"By dad, _finally_!" Huffed the devil with a joyous smile on his face as well. "Come now, I'm dying to go back to Los Angeles." Lucifer began their hobbling pace again, in a hurry to reach the first piece of good news they'd seen in what felt like ages.

"Me too, man." Dan patted his chest with his free arm.

They had a metaphorical spring in their step. Maybe it would take a while, but not too long, and a car or a truck or a bunch of leather clad bikers would cross the road. And then… well then home laid ahead.

"You and I deserve a few days in bed my very fine friend." Lucifer said.

Dan looked up and for a moment stared weirdly at the devil.

"What, too soon?" Asked the dark eyed with a neutral smile.

"No, I… I could do with a friend." And this last bit he said sure of his words.

Lucifer grinned. Daniel Espinoza. A _friend_. Who would've thought?

* * *

 **Abril: Honestly, I had no idea the sun was going to be pulling a bit of a deus-ex-machina here. It just took over.**

 **GUYS THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ACCOMPANYING ME THROUGH THIS LONG ASS JOURNEY. I'm sorry for the terrible schedule but… I'm very bad at multichaptered fics. But we did it, we reached the end. I originally had a sequel planned but after this I don't think I can do that (to you AND me).**

 **You guys have really been so sweet and patient with me so I appreciate it to the end of the world and back. All the support you gave me when I lost the files of the story, and through the story with your lovely comments, I am immensely grateful.**

 **I hope you liked the ending of this story. I wish you all a very good day and a safe time in these uncertain days.**

 **Song they sing is Rocket Man by Elton John.**

 **BETA-READ BY ProwlSIC**


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